Crypto Whale Opens $163M Bitcoin Short After Scoring $192M Profit

A mysterious crypto trader just placed another massive bet against Bitcoin after walking away with nearly $200 million from a previous short position. The whale opened a $163 million short on Sunday through the decentralised exchange Hyperliquid, and the trade already sits at $3.5 million in unrealised profit.

The trader gained attention last week after opening a nine-figure short position just 30 minutes before President Trump announced new China tariffs. That perfectly timed move generated roughly $192 million in profit when markets crashed. The timing sparked accusations of insider trading across crypto communities, with many observers labelling the entity an "insider whale."

Suspicious Timing Raises Questions

Blockchain data shows the trader, identified by address 0xb317, uses 10x leverage on the new position. The bet faces liquidation if Bitcoin climbs to $125,500. Crypto analyst MLM noted that the same trader reportedly shorted additional amounts of Bitcoin and Ethereum minutes before the weekend crash, suggesting they may have triggered the liquidation cascade that followed. Over 250 wallets lost millionaire status on Hyperliquid after the selloff.

The whale's history dates back to 2011 when the address accumulated 86,000 Bitcoin during the cryptocurrency's earliest years. On-chain records show the trader sold 35,991 Bitcoin worth $4.43 billion starting in August to purchase 886,371 Ethereum valued at $4.07 billion. The wallet still holds 49,634 bitcoin worth approximately $5.43 billion across four addresses.

Market Carnage Hits Traders Hard

The tariff announcement triggered over $19 billion in liquidations within 24 hours. Bitcoin dropped 7.5% to $112,505, and Ethereum fell 12.5% to $3,837. Some analysts argue the actual liquidation figure reached $30 billion to $40 billion when accounting for positions not captured in public data. The volatility affected trading platforms across the board, from major exchanges to the UK's best Bitcoin casinos that attract players with instant withdrawals and reduced fees. These platforms need stable crypto prices since their users choose Bitcoin specifically to avoid the delays and costs that come with conventional payment methods.

Another trader went long $11 million on Bitcoin with 40x leverage, betting on a rebound from the selloff. The sharp volatility and lack of oversight in decentralised trading reignited debates about crypto market integrity. 

Janis Kluge, a researcher at SWP Berlin, said crypto participants are realizing what unregulated markets mean: insider trading, corruption, crime, and zero accountability.

Binance Faces Fresh Scrutiny

Binance dealt with separate issues during the selloff as several traders reported failed stop-loss orders, token depeggings, and sudden liquidations. The exchange denied any technical fault and attributed the problems to a display issue. Binance later announced it would compensate affected users with $283 million for those holding depegged collateral assets such as USDE, BNSOL, and WBETH.

The depegging incidents occurred between 21:36 and 22:16 UTC on October 10. Ethena's USDe stablecoin , designed to stay at $1, briefly crashed to $0.66 during peak volatility. Binance confirmed that futures, margin, and loan users who held these assets as collateral during the depeg window qualified for compensation. The exchange distributed payments in two batches within 24 hours of the incident.

Trump's approval rating dropped to 40% according to a recent Reuters poll, with 58% disapproving of his performance. The decline follows growing criticism of his decision to militarize law enforcement and an ongoing government shutdown triggered by Congress's failure to pass spending bills. Senator Elizabeth Warren warned that Trump's crypto involvement could pose ethical risks if he profits from related ventures during his presidency.